Oil prices are down from their second-quarter peak, raising concerns that energy companies could trim spending on new wells. But Schlumberger said offshore demand would help its business, which was also boosted by growth in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Brazil in the third quarter.

DALLAS (Reuters) – A trade complaint filed by a group of solar companies against China drew skeptical reviews from inside the industry, with many fearing a trade war could disrupt growth.

On Wednesday, seven U.S. solar manufacturers asked the Obama administration to slap duties of more than 100 percent on China imports, which they said were unfairly undercutting U.S. prices and destroying American jobs.

DALLAS (Reuters) – First Solar Inc does not expect any delay in the completion of its massive Topaz solar power project in California despite not having clinched a U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee to finance it.

The U.S. solar company is in advanced talks with several potential buyers for the project, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

DALLAS (Reuters) – Solar panel prices are falling and some buyers appear to be holding off purchases in the hopes of even cheaper prices, confounding installers’ business plans, according to the head of Germany’s Phoenix Solar.

Those conditions are likely to drive some in the solar industry out of business and will force others into mergers, Andreas Haenel, chief executive officer of Phoenix told Reuters at the Solar Power International meeting.

DALLAS (Reuters) – The sunset of two key U.S. subsidies has set the solar industry scrambling to keep the cash flowing to fund new renewable energy projects, and the outlook looks cloudy, according to industry experts.

The U.S. solar industry is on pace to install a record 2 gigawatts of new installations this year, according to China’s Suntech Power, more than double the 880 megawatts put on line in 2011 and well above earlier forecast of 1.5 to 1.6 GW.

DALLAS (Reuters) – Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd expects U.S. solar installations to reach a record 2 gigawatts this year, even as demand from the German market stumbles, a Suntech executive said on Monday.

Solar companies have been betting that the United States could become the world’s largest market in the next few years, replacing Germany in the top spot as Berlin trims subsidies there.

In late 2010, solar panel makers were sold out, Germany was
gobbling up record numbers of the clean energy systems, and new
markets were steadily growing.

Now, the erosion of subsidies in Germany and Italy, the
world’s two biggest markets, and rising production of the
panels that turn sunlight into electricity has left the
industry awash in a glut of equipment and driven panel prices
down by some 35 percent this year.

Sept 28 (Reuters) – Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it
had very strong results from test wells in Ohio’s Utica shale,
raising the chances the company will attract a partner to help
develop the field and boosting its share price nearly 4
percent.

Chesapeake is seeking a joint venture partner by the end of
October to invest in its development in the Utica, the latest
U.S. shale field to draw heavy interest from the oil and
natural gas industry.

The United States should require more of the goods that
Americans consume to be produced domestically to spur job
growth as Brazil has done, billionaire industrial magnate Eike
Batista told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

Sept 22 (Reuters) – First Solar Inc (FSLR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it would
not meet a deadline to receive a federal loan guarantee for a
huge solar power plant it is building in California, sending
its shares to their lowest level in more than four years.

The announcement cast a spotlight again on the Obama
administration’s support of renewable energy, which have come
under fire by Republicans since the collapse of solar company
Solyndra after it won more than $500 million in backing from
the Department of Energy.